the sculpture collection at donum winery...richard hudson’s massive mirrored heart ‘love me’...

Press release the donum estate

Sonoma, California -- Donum Winery has long been known for its award-winning, carefully-crafted Pinot Noir created by founder, president and winegrower Anne Moller-Racke, who established the winery in 2001. In a more recent development to complement the high quality of the wine, Donum is now installing a world-class sculpture collection throughout its 200-acre Sonoma estate. Like the wine, the sculpture collection at Donum expresses a sense of place and the important connection between art, nature and the human hand.

Since 2015, Donum has been placing large-scale sculptures in the midst of its vineyard landscape, interspersed with 150-year-old olive trees and an organic farm. At present, these include Ai Weiwei’s ‘Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads’, Keith Haring’s ‘King and Queen’, and Zhan Wang’s ‘Artificial Rock’, Yue Minjun’s ‘Terracotta Warriors’, Jaume Plensa’s ‘Sanna’ and Subodh Gupta’s ‘Soma’, among other works. By the end of 2017, the sculpture collection at Donum is set to number around 30 monumental works, including major pieces by Anselm Kiefer, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, Danh Vo, Tracey Emin, Lynda Benglis, Elmgreen and Dragset, Ghada Amer and Pascale Marthine Tayou.

The sculpture collection at Donum creates an open-air encounter with art unparalleled in its international scope and ambition, yet one that fits organically into the rolling Sonoma vineyards, with views to the mountains and San Francisco Bay beyond. Visitors who come to taste Donum’s exceptional wines in this intimate, natural setting can heighten their sensory experience with a walk through the grounds to see the evolving collection of art – one that will continue to grow over the years.

Notable for its mix of established and emerging contemporary artists from East and West, the sculpture collection at Donum was conceived by Allan Warburg, the majority owner of Donum. He acquired the winery in December 2011 after first tasting its wine in 2008. A Danish businessman based in Hong Kong and China, he is a passionate collector of art and wine with a belief that both can help connect people across cultures.

The Sculpture Collection at Donum Winery

Wine can instill a moment of inspiration or madness; art can do the same.

- Ai Weiwei -


The sculpture collection is very personal, representing what my wife and I believe fits the landscape and feeling of Donum,” says Warburg. “We try to make the collection as global as possible. I am a European who has lived over half my life in Asia, I am married to a Chinese woman who studied in Australia, and now I also produce wine in California. I love and and embrace diversity and different cultures and hope the collection will express this.”

Art and Wine

The idea to install his art collection at Donum occurred gradually, once Warburg visited the winery and fell in love with the authentic, rural feel of this former dairy farm, one hour north of San Francisco. With a glass of Donum in his hand, he conceived the idea of placing sculptures in the Sonoma vineyards. “It is important to remember that Donum is a winery with a sculpture park – not a sculpture park with a winery. Donum Pinot Noirs are among the highest rated in California. This means that we only select the highest quality art for Donum in order to reflect the special nature of the wine and its estate.”

For Warburg, wine plus art equals more than the sum of its parts: “I believe that one plus one is not always two,” he says. “If you take art, put it into a beautiful landscape and at the same time enjoy it with a glass of great wine, the experience is more powerful than if the three are enjoyed separately.”

The sculpture walk through the Donum vineyards creates unexpected vistas and new perspectives on the art, the wine and their relationship to this landscape. For example, the new structure that will house the Louise Bourgeois ‘Spider’ (the artist’s extraordinary first version of this iconic work) will be embedded in the vines with glass walls, so that visitors can look out through the ‘Spider’ to the vineyards beyond. Anselm Kiefer’s specially commissioned life-size lead airplane will be placed on a ‘runway’ between two bodies of water. Zhan Wang’s stainless steel ‘Artificial Rock’ is surrounded by natural rocks that serve as benches. Richard Hudson’s massive mirrored heart ‘Love Me’ at the summit of the vineyard reflects the earth and sky that nurture the vines. The Corten steel of Keith Haring’s ‘King and Queen’ and the copper of Danh Vo’s ‘We the People (detail)’ are echoed in the steel vineyard posts. Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Pumpkin’ and Lynda Benglis’s flower-like ‘Pink Ladies’ will be planted like exotic fruits growing out of the ground. The brass coated poles of Gao Weigang’s ‘Maze’ blend with the native California grasses surrounding them.


Each work was collected and conceived individually and several are site-specifi c commissions. Two of the artists here have made direct responses to the wine. Ai Weiwei has redesigned the Donum wine label using the different animal heads of his Zodiac piece to correspond with the year of each vintage. Subodh Gupta’s sculpture ‘Soma’, named for the nectar of the gods in Hindu mythology, has been specially commissioned in the shape of a Donum Pinot Noir bottle.

While the sculpture collection at Donum contains no over-arching theme, various ideas emerge from a sculpture walk through the vineyard: for example, a sense of fl owing line that complements the vines; the relationship between man and nature; questions about the environment, beauty, perception, love and cross-cultural connection.

In the words of Anne Moller-Racke, who has nurtured Donum’s growth since its foundation: “Donum means ‘gift’ in Latin and the art we now have here is a wonderful gift. Visitors have always connected with this property, its proximity to nature and the wine that is an expression of this terroir – the art is a seamless addition. What underlies both art and wine is passion. Both of them stimulate the senses and enhance your perceptions of this special place.”

Zodiac Heads, 2011Ai Weiwei

GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS. (2) CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IMPAIRS YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE A CAR OR OPERATE MACHINERY, AND MAY CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS.

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P I N O T N O I R

Donum means the “Gift of the Land”. Our goal is to hand-craftthe highest qaulity Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to achieve a true

expression of Grand Cru quality. Vintage by Vintage - Cru by Cru.

Ai Weiwei’s 12 Zodiac Heads are on display at the Estate.Visit by appointment only.

DONUM 2015

NOTE > THIS PROOF IS NOT FOR COLOR MATCHING

CLIENT > THE DONUM ESTATE

ITEM > DONUM 750ML 2014 LABELS

VERSION >10.26.16

SIZE > F: 80mm x 91.169mm F: 3.149” x 3.589”

B: 76.976mm X 91.169mm B: 3.030” X 3.589”

STOCK > ESTATE 8 UNCOATED PRESSURE SENSITIVEA N T H O N Y L A U R I N O

A r t D i r e c t o r

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PANTONE110 U

PANTONE4625 U

BLACK SPECIAL MATCHCREAM

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Notes for Editors:

Donum Winery was founded in 2001 by Anne Moller-Racke as an “ultimate Pinot Noir project” based on the Burgundian Grand-Cru model, with the goal of producing the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Located in a former dairy farm in the Carneros region of Sonoma, Donum also creates Pinot Noir from its vineyards in the Russian River and Anderson Valley regions of Northern California.

In September 2017, Donum inaugurates the Donum Home, a new visitors center on the site of the former farmhouse, which will include a neon work by Tracey Emin and by the Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong. In Autumn 2018, Donum will inaugurate its first wine-making facility on the property, on the site of the original dairy barn.

Donum is open for wine tastings by appointment only. The wine tastings include walks through the grounds and sculpture collection. At present, it is not possible to view the sculpture collection without booking a tasting. For more information on visiting Donum, please contact: Maggie Staines at [email protected] or call +1 707-939-2290

Media enquiries

For more information about the sculpture collection at Donum and any questions relating to the art collection, please contact:Sarah GreenbergEvergreen [email protected]

Evergreen ArtsLondonTel. +44 (0) [email protected]

the sculpture collection at donum winery...richard hudson’s massive mirrored heart ‘love me’...

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